It was a normal bracelet
by Alyce of the Togas
Summary: Pre-Femslash - Pansy/Hermione - Pansy finds a bracelet and wonders who it belongs to.
1. Chapter One

It was a normal bracelet… Well not normal in a sense that it didn't look normal. But normal in that it was a muggle made bracelet. She was fascinated by it. The uniqueness, how different it was to her jewellery, how beautiful it was, yet sort of tacky at the same time. 

It was made of a clear sort of stretchy wire, with black, clear and silvery-pearl beads threaded on the wire. That wasn't what made it different. The fact that between the beads there were little oval picture frames hanging down made it so different. In these picture frames were black and white pictures of people (possibly old-fashioned muggle actors from the look of it). Because the pictures weren't moving – it was the first obvious clue that the bracelet was muggle made. The second clue was that when you looked carefully at the pattern of beads and miniature frames, there was a bead missing from the sequence. Any wizard jeweller would have placed a 'hold-together' spell to keep from any beads falling off. 

Pansy wondered how a muggle made bracelet had gotten here. Just lying in the grass next to her favourite spot to sit and think. Perhaps somebody had dropped? If then – then who owned the bracelet? 

The girl sat down, and held the bracelet in her hands, running her fingers over the differently shaped beads, eyes upon the different frames and faces inside them. She tried to remember if she had seen anybody wearing it, or heard anybody talking about it…

_"Look what she gave me guys?" squealed the frizzy-haired Hermione-goody-Granger. She was waving around her wrist, and shoving it under her housemates' noses. "Isn't it just **beautiful?" Everybody just smiled and nodded. Pansy looked over the noise to wrinkle her nose in disgust at Granger and the **thing** hanging off her wrist…**_

Realisation dawned upon the girl. It was Granger's bracelet. And she had been given it by… a girl. Pansy wondered if there was something more than friendship between Granger and the girl who had given it to her.  "Ha! As if. I bet Granger has never had any thoughts but straight ones in her head. It's probably just a friendship bracelet." She fiddled with the bracelet some more. It was cool upon her fingers. "But then, why was she so excited. It was how Draco acts when he gets something from his mysterious person – deliriously happy. Like she was… In love." 

Pansy shook her head again, not wholly believing it…

_It was the typical beginning of term, and all of the students were upon the Hogwarts Express. Pansy was having great difficulty in finding a quiet compartment in which she could sit down and read. She walked past a compartment with the door slightly open. Slowly – in case there was somebody within – she slipped in. To her great surprise there sat Hermione Granger with her forehead lent up against the glass, looking outside. Pansy watched the girl sit there, not making a noise. She looked at Granger's face and how it seemed pale, how her hair looked unkempt. At the earrings in her ears, that had miniature frames dangling from them, with black and white pictures inside. She looked at the crumpled piece of paper that lay near her feet, with the words 'It is over. ~C' written on it. _

_A crashed came from outside the compartment door, and both Pansy and Hermione turned to look. Pansy watched as Hermione's puffy eyes turned to her with a questioning look. Not wanting to explain herself – Pansy slipped quietly out of the compartment…_

Pansy turned over the bracelet again. "Perhaps I should just leave in here in case she comes back…

There was the sound of crunching grass behind her. Pansy sweep round hurryingly, only to see the object of her thoughts – Hermione Granger – standing there, her hair sweeping around her face from the wind and once again a questioning look in her eyes.

Yes, Pansy thought, just perhaps she does have other than straight thoughts…


	2. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. They belong to J.K. Rowling. I'm not making any money from this in any way.

Slash of the female/female kind appears and is suggested in this fic. If you don't like then don't read.

For some reason people (well… actually Occasus and Black-rose23) have mentioned that they wish to see more of this fic. I wrote "It was a normal bracelet" more than a year ago – and only ever intended it as a one off. But due to Occasus and Black-rose23, the idea of continuing it was put into my mind. And so after a long long year, here is my attempt at a second chapter – please keep in mind that a year has progressed, so my writing style may have changed a bit (maybe?).

* * *

Chapter Two

_Yes, Pansy thought, just perhaps she does have other than straight thoughts… _

_

* * *

Hermione didn't say anything. She just stood there, watching the Slytherin girl who held her beloved bracelet. She wondered what Pansy was doing here, in __her_ favourite thinking spot.

Pansy was fingering her bracelet and Hermione could not help but stare. Those long elegant fingers, with their perfect manicured nails, were caressing and turning the beads of her bracelet. She couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like to have those fingers caressing her skin, rubbing her in that way.. Just like…

_Hermione was out patrolling the corridors. It was a stormy afternoon and the Gryffindor common room was filled with boisterous students wishing to be outside. The noise had been deafening. So with the excuse of her new Prefect duties, Hermione headed out to take a stroll in the corridors. She was trying to avoid people, still feeling a bit down about what had happened at the end of the summer holidays. _

_Walking down a little used corridor Hermione heard muffled gasps coming from around the corner. Drawing her wand, she crept and pecking around the corner, saw two figures leaning against the wall. Looking more closely she recognised one as a Ravenclaw from her Transfigurations class and the other as Pansy. Realising what they were doing, Hermione caught her gasp in her breath and quietly headed back down the corridor the way she had come… _

Blinking and slightly shaking her head to dispel the thought, she looked back into Pansy's face. There was a calculating look there. Not the usual one of disgust and loathing. It was as if Pansy was contemplating something… But what.

"What are you doing here Granger?" The words fell from Pansy's lips, sounding acid from habit, rather than thought.

Hermione just raised an eyebrow, and glanced back to her bracelet, which was still being caressed by Pansy's fingers. Slowly she raised her eyes back up, "I did come here to find my bracelet – but you saved me the trouble."

Lifting up the bracelet, Pansy gave a slight sneer, "So that's who it belongs to. The famous Gryffindor Mudblood. I should have guessed, since its muggle… And extremely tacky." Pansy watched as Hermione's face stayed blank, only her eyes narrowing slightly.

Pansy was unnerved. It was unlike the Gryffindor to stay so impassive – while calm normally, she usually still wore her heart on her sleeve. Like most Gryffindors. Unlike now. Pansy's sneer grew bigger, "And why would little Miss Mudblood want her tacky _muggle_ bracelet back?" She stepped closer to Hermione, tilting her head to the side, "Was it given to her by her boyfriend?" No reaction from the other girl, "Or perhaps even… dare I say it about Miss Hermione-I'm-So-Perfect-Granger…" Pansy took another step towards Hermione, leaning in to whisper breathlessly into her ear "… a girlfriend?"

_It was the beginning of summer and Hermione was visiting her favourite bookstore. It was an old second-hand store, with books lining dark mahogany shelves, reaching from the roof high up to the floor. Dust skipped along the air, and dappled light shone through the windows. She was running her fingers along the spines of the books, reading the titles and occasionally pulling one out to have a closer look. She was reading a passage in Jane Austen's 'Sense and Sensibility' when she felt somebody leaning over her shoulder from behind. A breathless whisper sounded in her ear, "So… Miss-I-Can-Spend-Hours-Looking-At-One-Shelf…" _

Something flared up suddenly in Hermione's eyes, but it was quickly hidden again. The Slytherin sighed silently and stood back.

"Well, if it's not important then you won't mind me keeping the bracelet for a bit longer." She placed the bracelet into her robe pocket as she brushed past Hermione, "After all… Finders are keepers."

Pansy was sure that Hermione was going to say something. Anything. A curse, a plea, a hex or curse. But nothing came from behind as she walked up the incline back towards school.

If Pansy had turned around anytime, she would have seen Hermione standing in that same spot, watching her retreating back with a slight smile playing upon her lips.


End file.
